


A Taste For Darkness

by stevebcky



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 09:13:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4299096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevebcky/pseuds/stevebcky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hades and Persephone AU; "there was something about her... something in the way she briefly closed her eyes and felt at peace when she held the fragile petals in her palm, even though she knew separating them from where they belonged would make them wither sooner and cripple quicker."</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Taste For Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came from a chat I had with the wonderful Lauren (anthonystvrk on tumblr) a while ago <3 I didn’t write any actual romance between Peter and Lydia in this, and although I first imagined Peter as Hades because I love all the parallels between both dynamics, I think you can pretty much insert anyone instead of him anyway.

As the first signs of spring begun to emerge from the earth, he watched her with a keen gaze, shrouded by the dead branches of a yet untouched grove of trees.

From every step she took with her bare feet, shoots broke out of the ground, opening up and reaching desperately for the sky. The sun, gold and brighter than ever before, paled in comparison to her strawberry blonde locks, which drifted lightly through the soothing breeze. Within the spreading fields of dozens of different flowers, painted with a million shades of the rainbow, she was the one who caught his eye, all soft skin and small smiles and laughing emerald eyes.

Sometimes she was with Demeter, following her mother's footsteps with obedience, but with an almost unnoticeable crease in her convincing grin. She listened to the goddess of the harvest, and with just one look, the fields turned into cornucopias: wheat ears grew, fruit trees flourished, and vegetables sprung from the ground in an attempt to reach their creator.

But some days she was alone, and this was when she shone the brightest. Dancing and singing sweet melodies, she plucked the flowers from their roots, making his eyes widen. There was something about her... something in the way she briefly closed her eyes and felt at peace when she held the fragile petals in her palm, even though she knew separating them from where they belonged would make them wither sooner and cripple quicker. He eyed her curiously, but she continued tearing her creations and weaving them in the folds of her dress as she sat, butterflies twirling around in a halo above her and eventually floating to rest on her shoulders. The next time she rose with her back to him, he moved closer, quiet as the shadows with which he lived, to see better through the trees.

And how ironic it was of him to think this, but by Cerberus, did she look like a _goddess_.

She stood, illuminated by the sun behind her, turning slowly and laughing with the humming birds. Her delicate dress trailed to her feet and her head was adorned with a crown of blossoms.

And right then, their eyes locked on each other's. Guilt crossed his face at the sudden contact, but he quickly clenched his jaw to shield his reaction. Then he furrowed his brows and bobbed his head slightly to the side in bewilderment; she was still staring at him, _just staring_ , which was far from the reaction he was expecting. Shock, fear, worry, _something_... yet in the depths of her eyes all he saw was curiosity.

Cautiously, as though he thought he would spook her like a deer, he emerged from the shade of the trees and into the light. The sun felt like fire on his skin and the sudden fresh air of the open fields invaded him. It took him by surprise to realise he _liked_ it. Yes, he missed living with his brothers and being looked up to by all the beings of the world, but he thought that after all this time, he would have forgotten how to care about the smaller details. He thought he would have gotten used to the underworld.

But he loved this - the warmth of life, the breeze of energy - and it was because it all felt like _her_ , the goddess now only a few steps away.

"Peter," she murmured, her voice like a siren's song. She raised an eyebrow playfully with a teasing spark in her eye. "I thought you lived in the underworld."

"I do," he answered, knowing very well that she was aware of this already, but how was he to explain that he had been watching her, as often as he possibly could, for weeks now? Yet something told him that she wouldn't be scared away. "That doesn't mean I don't wander elsewhere at times."

The corners of her lips twitched up, but she pursed them before a full smile could break across her face. "You've been going everywhere I have. What a coincidence."

That was what made him smile for the first time. Very slowly, carefully even, until it looked more like a smirk, because the action seemed so unfamiliar to him. And that's how it began. They sat down on the soft earth, pillowed with fluorescent flowers, and spoke of their adventures (or for Lydia, lack thereof). He told her of the disappointment of receiving rule over the underworld while his brothers chose the sky and the sea, of the darkness and the hate that surrounded him. She smiled and nodded, understanding more than anyone ever had, and told him of how tired she was, having to obey her mother's wishes.

At first glance, they seemed as different as day and night, but there was one thing they both shared every day: loneliness. Loneliness smothered him completely, seeping into every corner of his life, and yet people mistook it for evil, for malevolence; and loneliness suffocated her like the ever present chains her mother set on her with no chance of escape.

_Except_ , he thought suddenly, _she_ did _have a chance to escape_.

"Come with me."

Looking up at his unexpected announcement, something gleamed just behind her eyes that he couldn't quite put his finger on. But she beamed, her smile brighter than the sun showering them with light, and that was enough of an answer for him.

When she saw the underworld for the first time, her eyes widened eagerly. She took it all in, savouring every detail, as if she needed to like it was air. The five rivers flowed spontaneously in between the ridges of every rock, swooping in and out of sight behind stone constructions. Flames spat fireworks of red and orange and yellow, casting the small amount of light over most of the gloom. It was a stark contrast to what she was used to, but she loved it. There was something about the mysterious shadows that drew her in, and she let it.

Before long, however, he took her back to avoid any suspicion from the other gods - and especially Demeter. But every day that she was alone, he came to visit, and she went back with him; they walked among the tombstones, hand in hand, and every soul around them peered curiously at the strange couple, their eyes glued to the woman in a dress weaved of gold. She was so different from the man in black velvet robes, they observed. And soon, they loved her, praising her name from the highest point in the underworld to even the deepest crevice of Tartarus.

But while they became fond of her, Peter became obsessed. There was always a limit to the time they spent together, but he needed her with him, always.

After rummaging through possible ways to succeed in this, he had an idea, and by all the other gods, she would hate him for it. But what would be better, being with her all day and all night even if his feelings for her were no longer mutual, or seeing her only when Demeter let her off her tight leash? He was enraged with the world, with his brothers for making him rule in the darkest depths of the earth, with himself. There was nothing else he could do except this. So he wandered to the gardens blooming slowly by the river Styx and plucked a pomegranate from an ancient branch.

The next time she was with him, he held it out in front of her, and smiled, hoping his real intentions were inconspicuous enough. "These are the only fruit that grow here."

She raised an eyebrow, her usual small smile on her face - the smile that made everyone feel like she knew something they didn't, that made her seem like an amorous enigma. Reaching for the pomegranate, she split it in half with her dainty yet strong fingers, and picked a blood red seed from its contours.

"It's delicious," she whispered silkily with a grin.

For him, the next few hours were filled with dread. What would he tell her when she said it was time for her to go back? 

Soon, the time had passed and even he knew, through the darkness of the underworld, that the sun was rising. Yet Lydia said nothing, as she was busy admiring the velvet crimson depths of the Phlegethon river.

In a deep, wary voice, he said, "Isn't it time for you to go back to your mother?"

She turned to face him, a peaceful expression gracing her face. "We both know that won't be possible."

Staring at her, puzzled, he opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but was cut short by her quick, genuine laugh.

"You honestly thought I didn't know what happens to someone who eats pomegranate seeds from the underworld?"

He was stunned, but in hindsight, he shouldn't have doubted her knowledge. "You knew?"

"Of course," she smiled pleasantly, as if she wasn't mad at all.

"You ate them so you could be with me."

It was far from an enquiry; it was a statement. But Lydia bit her lip, not sure how to deliver the information. She stepped towards him, looking up - almost shyly - through her lashes.

"Peter... I enjoyed all this time with you, I have. But I've always wanted to be free. Don't you understand? You are just like my mother. I didn't do this to be here with you. I did it to be here with _them_." She glanced behind her shoulder at the souls wandering aimlessly around the dark kingdom, then back at him.

And he finally understood. That ever present gleam in her eyes... she planned this from the very beginning. She saw a chance to be free, the same one he saw for her, and at first he thought he was the one who offered it. But she never took it from him. She seized it herself, just like she seized the flowers she had grown to make her own crown.

She had a taste for darkness that he knew about, but had never fully accepted. It was in the way she hated being the good and obedient daughter, in the strange and deadly plants she created with the sheer purpose of catching unsuspecting prey, in the fascination on her face when she saw the underworld for the first time.

Silence settled around them for a few moments, before she broke it. "You're not a good ruler, Peter, not to the souls that need more than just your solitary pain. They need someone powerful. They need a queen. They need _me_."

And as she turned away from him with a sweep of her trailing gown, he knew they wouldn't be sharing their rule together like he had wanted; but he understood.

He had fallen in love with the light inside of her. She had fallen in love with the darkness around him.


End file.
